H2M Wins Key Historic Preservation Award

An H2M adaptive reuse project in Troy, NY, recently won a New York State Historic Preservation Award for Excellence in Non-Profit Achievement.

Every year, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation celebrates the most significant and impactful historic preservation and revitalization projects. H2M partnered with First Columbia Real Estate and Compassion Coalition to design the nonprofit Bargain Grocery, which opened its doors to the public last year.

H2M used adaptive reuse techniques to convert a 19th-century factory into a modern grocery facility while preserving the historical aesthetic of the original building. Part of a larger $75 million downtown revitalization initiative, Bargain Grocery now provides fresh and affordable food, improving community health in what was once considered a food desert. Additionally, adaptive reuse allowed the project to be completed in less time, for less money, and with less waste than new, ground-up construction.

H2M Studio Director Katrina Pacheco, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, MCPPO—who served as project manager—recently authored and published an article in Albany Business Review about how adaptive reuse projects like Bargain Grocery can help address issues of nutritional inequality in neighborhoods with limited space for new construction.

Katrina, along with H2M Director of Operations David J. Pacheco, AIA, and Senior Project Designer Simon Mandic, joined Nathaniel Bette of First Columbia Real Estate, Joe Swift of Compassion Coalition, and Michael Puma of Preservation Studios to celebrate the project at the annual awards gala.